Ryanair’s decision to start charging for printing boarding passes at the airport has been ruled illegal by a Spanish court.
Judge Barbara Maria Cordoba Ardao ruled that Ryanair were breaking international laws by charging the levy at a sitting at Commercial Court Number One in Barcelona, and stated that it had always been the responsibility of an airline to print off the boarding passes.
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Ryanair introduced the policy in a bid to cut down on costs by reducing staffing numbers at airports and encourage all passengers to print off their boarding passes before travelling.
For those who don’t, the charge in the UK is £40, whilst in Spain it is €40. The move caused anger amongst many passengers when it was first introduced, however Simon Evans of the Air Transport Users Council, pointed out that most passengers are fully aware of the charge and are quite happy to print their own passes.
Ryanair themselves played down the incident stating “Over 99.9% of Ryanair’s passengers used our web check in facility last year” adding “Seventy three million passengers this year can’t be wrong; checking in online from the comfort of your home and avoiding airport queues is clearly what passengers want, and Ryanair will defend their interest by appealing this decision.”
A spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said last night that the Spanish ruling would need to be upheld in the European courts before it would be reconsidered at UK airports.
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